Friday, October 31, 2014

Pumpkin Spice Cake

"Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see." - Linus

It's the night before Halloween and I've finally finished sewing the kids' costumes (he a knight in shining armor, she a medieval damsel in distress). The dinner dishes have been cleared and the pumpkin takes center stage on the countertop, ready for carving. Will it be a funny face? Or a scary face this year? Dad helps bridge a compromise (and carve the pumpkin) after much arguing, and the jack o'lantern is set on the stoop outdoors, while the salted seeds roast in the oven. They're done just in time to munch while watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on TV - a tradition we'd no sooner miss than skip trick or treating.

Yes, it's the night before Halloween, but for years now, there have been no costumes to stitch, no arguments about what to carve on the pumpkin. And I'm watching TV alone while Linus waits in vain for the Great Pumpkin. Somehow it feels like shouting in a vacuum.

The years have flown by faster than Snoopy's dogfight with the Red Baron and nostalgia could threaten to take me down. But no, I'm remembering the good times, and remembering that while there is no pumpkin on the counter to be carved, there is a pumpkin spice cake that is calling my name.

And a darned good one too, even if it's not a great looker. It's baked in a plain Jane rectangular pan, with a cream cheese frosting sprinkled with nuts. The kind of thing you'd find at a bake sale - or in my kitchen tonight.

It doesn't make the pretty statement like the circular pumpkin coffee cake I made earlier in the week to serve to my Italian chit-chat group (photo below), but the rectangular recipe tastes a whole lot better. If you really want the recipe for this one, email me and I'll send it to you, but once you've tried the pumpkin spice cake, you won't want any other.

Don't get me wrong - the crumb-topped pumpkin coffee cake was good, but not nearly as moist and tender as I wanted.

So more "research" was in order. That's when I found this recipe on Mary's blog, "One Perfect Bite." As Mary states on her post, the recipe is a gem of simplicity and feeds a lot of people. She was so right. But even more importantly, it tastes terrific. I know I'll be making this one again and again now that pumpkin season is here.

And even though the knight and damsel are not here to share it with me, I'll follow Linus' suggestion and be "most sincere" as I savor every bite.

I had to smile - I will be posting one of Mary's Pumpkin cakes.... one of these days. The post really moved me. Memories of putting together costumes.... the roasting of the pumpkin seeds that I did last night and always had ready for chilly kids when they returned home (with warm cider also simmering on the stove). A little bittersweet - but mostly sweet that I was able to have those Halloweens. I know the cake is delicious - between you and Mary - how could it fail?

Shouting into a vacuum - a metaphor for the years going by if ever there was one. I bet your family spent many a Happy Halloween carving pumpkins, selecting and making costumes and bracing for the chilly, blustery air to be confronted on a night of Trick or Treating. I love seeing the shot of your kids, and thanks for the memories

pumpkin cakes are so good, and it surely is the season now. I've got to try this. Bart loves pumpkin flavored treats, and I'm sure he'll flip for this one.

We all love pumpkin cake! I have a recipe I've used for years and years--I found it on a brochure fro a pumpkin farm we used to visit in Long Island when our children were young. It has no frosting, and I make in a pan that makes 12 mini "loafs." I make about 36 at a time! It would not be Thanksgiving without them, as I bag up a few for everyone to take home for breakfast the next day.

Oh, I love this post Linda, I don't know how I missed it! Those were the days, it's amazing how fast time goes by but all those memories are the best. I'm excited to try this pumpkin cake and I'm going to pull out my plan Jane rectangular pan like you.

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Making Pasta With A Torchio

The Torchio

The device you see in the slides above is a "torchio," a hollow brass tube attached to a bench or a wall. Different metal "dies" can be inserted in the torchio for different shapes of pasta. The torchio belonged to my mother's family in Italy. After decades of collecting dust in my basement, the torchio was recently resurrected when my father offered to make a bench for it. The torchio is screwed to the bench, semolina pasta dough is fed into the tube, the crank is turned, (in this case by my son Michael) and with a lot of elbow grease, pasta is extruded through the die. What comes out below is a tubular pasta - anything from thin spaghetti to bucatini, similar to a hollow straw.

About Me

In my last life, I was a journalist in NYC, but left the rat race to live in Italy for a year. I created this blog upon my return to combine my interests of writing and photography with my love of food and travel. My mother was from the region of Emilia-Romagna, my father's family was from Calabria and my late husband's family is Abruzzese. Is it any wonder then, that Italian art, music, food and the country's beautiful landscape are among my passions? I hope you will try some of the recipes and post comments. Buon Appetito. Linda